Croatia

I'm not South African, but I am an English-speaking expat living in Croatia.

It's a place I recommend to all English speakers considering relocating from their home country. Among its advantages are:

1) Croatia is next in line for EU membership with accession expected before 2010. Once Croatia is a member, legal residents will be able to travel throughout Europe on the basis of their Croatian residency;

2) Croatia's economy is the hottest in Europe according to Bloomberg. Real estate prices are expected to rise substantially as EU accession approaches as has been the case with all other new EU members;

We provide services of value to South Africans interested in investing or relocating in Croatia, including:

1) letters of invitation and entry visas;
2) company registration;
3) business visas, work permits and residence visas.

We have expanded our efforts in the area of real estate development. We are focusing on two types of properties:

1) multipurpose buildings (residential, office and retail) priced under the market that offer investors substantial, dependable rental income with significant price appreciation in the longer term (3-5 years); and
2) "enclave" developments of single or multi-family dwellings for creating expat communities for mutual support and socialization.

Croatia offers a shelter from the stormy weather taking place in many parts of the world along with a vibrant economy driven in part by imminent EU accession. At the same time, Croatia remains one of the easiest countries in which to start a business and gain residency. After five years, holders of business visas, work permits and temporary residence visas are eligible for permanent residency or even citizenship.

Hehehe , I was amused to read it , indeed !
Much of similar euphoria and/or one-sided propaganda was experienced , during my recent stay - pity that the actual facts of life , as personally observed and experienced there : didn't add up to quite that much ;
we returned safely yesterday and ( for the reasons I might yet describe later ) the last 200km from Luxembourg into Bru was the best , most pleasant and least expensive part of the entire 3000km+ journey .
I might yet be posting a few descriptions and memories and comments of the trip and stay in Croatia , another time - for now , briefly , however :
a ) whatever the ruling , scandals-ridden and shaky HDZ-party might advertise in media daily , there is absolutely NIL certainty yet that Croatia will be admitted into disunited , over-enlarged and tired EuroClub , in 2009 , 2010 , 2011 or whenever , much hanging on the watered-down version of the new EU-constitution , as well as on progress in talks EU-Serbia etc...;
b ) Croatian property : prices are already substantially higher than those in Germany , Benelux , Portugal , Bulgaria , France , parts of Spain ...apples for apples , it is hard-to-impossible to find much value for one's money there , or any upward potential , IMHO ;the "inevitable" accession to EU has been factored into the 3KEuro per sq.m. long ago , sadly , and greed wins over fear everytime , for the time being !
c ) cost of living is substantially higher than is generally perceived ; items like fresh veggies , alcohol of all kinds , clothing and footwear and accessories , medicaments , cosmetics , electricals , cars ...all are visibly more expensive than in NW Europe , while at the same time the assortment is mostly sadly lacking , as is often the case with the service , too ( customer being treated as a mug or a victim , rather than a King ) , there being a huge attitude problem on part of the natives , who expect it to be their God-given right to skin the tourists for up to 6 weeks' holiday season and then live off the proceeds until the next season comes ...;
d ) the roads , mostly , still vary from poor to very poor , signalisation is abysmal , the ( very ) few proper ( if often too narrow and incomplete ! ) M-ways really do cost a lot ( over 3 quid/5Euros to drive 36km Zagreb to Slovenian border at Macelj ! ) , the bottlenecks and the roadworks are everywhere and many drivers thrive on maniacal aggression and utter mindlesness ...
I said I'd try to keep it brief , for now , so : Cheers , from Capital of EUrope !

For those on this SAffers' Forum who'd still be tempted to get there in a hurry :
- for many days now , the recorded daily temperatures are 35 to 40C in the shade ( today even ! ) both on the coast and inland ;
- on any number of Saturdays , it has taken poor optimists of many and varied nationalities up to 7 ( seven ) hours to "drive" from the capital of Zagreb to nearest coast at Rijeka ( 186 km ) on a so-called motorway , where you also get to pay for the privilege of waiting for hours to enter a single-file tunnel ;
- the accidents , often caused by frustrated Slovaks , Czechs , Hungarians and others who have already travelled from afar , often having already suffered the indignities of costly Austrian roads , are simply horrendous !
- the state TV claims that last year , " over 670 " lives were lost in accidents on Croatian roads ;
- the sunniest island in the Adriatic , Hvar , one of the nicest to visit and supposedly best geared for better-class tourism , has some 5.000 beds available in hotels , B & Bs and private accommodation ; now being the peak of the european tourist season , some 750 are actually taken , all the rest are empty ( source : "Free Dalmatia" daily , of today ) ;
- most operators report significant declines in numbers of visiting Brits , Germans and Skandies ( highest-spending tourists ) ; the Ministry of Tourism confidently and bravely predicts a regular 10% annual increase in the number of visitors nonetheless - presumably , this will be achieved by ever-higher numbers of Russians and east-Europeans ?
- a close friend paid 39 HR-Kuna ( over 5 Euros/over 3pounds50p ) for a quarter of fresh watermelon , in the open-air fresh produce market on the northern island of Krk , 2 weeks ago !
There , I kept it brief , yet again ?!

...I only go thereabouts once every 2-3 years anyway !
Mostly : for Tchevapchitchi and Ajvar and Spritzers and a good skinner , yet
in the end : Beirut or Cyprus or Dubai or Figueres or Faro : all would have been a better bet , probably ?